Landing Gear
by ladycaramelx
Summary: Jean and Logan fight desire and temptation until Jean realizes where her heart truly belongs. Mainly LJ, hint of SJ, please RR!


Title: Stars With Landing Gear  
  
Author: ladycaramelx  
  
Distribution: Just ask before you take it, hehe.   
  
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own X-Men, or any of the characters associated with X-Men, I'm not making any money off this fic, so no lawsuits please! Anyway, even if you did sue me, all you'd get is a jar full of pennies. Heh.  
  
Classification: General/Romance  
  
Summary: Jean and Logan fight desire, until Jean realizes where her heart truly belongs.   
  
Spoilers: It's a bit AU from X2, gives a few hints, a lot of the same lines, only in a different situation.   
  
Ships: L/J with a hint of S/J  
  
Rating: R for some language, SLIGHT sexuality ... just to be on the safe side.  
  
Author's Notes: Please read and review! This is one of my first X-Men fics, so I'd definitely appreciate ANY feedback, whether it's constructive criticism or anything else. I played with the words a bit [from the movie], I hope it works well! Also, I hope you all like the little twist I added at the very end.  
  
Key: //thoughts// , "regular speech"  
  
Logan sighed and took another puff on his cigar, and watched as the light and fluffy cloud of smoke drifted through the crisp cold night, and eventually dissolved into thin air. He took another puff, and looked out of the corner of his eye to the distant flames, where the silhouettes of tents and people walking back and forth were still visible. He could see a distant figure approaching from the broken down jet, and even with his senses lowered by the haze of smoke surrounding him, he could still smell who it was.   
  
He blew a smoke ring into the air, lifting his eyes to the skies to watch his smoke ring dissipate. As the haze cleared, he could see stars shining brightly, twinkling like millions of 100 watt lightbulbs that would never burn out. Burn out. Burn out. Burning.  
  
Burning.  
  
Burning? ...  
  
"DAMNIT!", he yelled, as he realized he had misplaced his cigar and burnt a part of his hand. Had he been staring *that* intently at the sky? However, the pain receded as quickly as it had come, and his hand quickly healed. The distant figure came even closer, and Logan dropped his cigar and stepped on it, making sure it wouldn't smoulder.  
  
The distant figure came closer. "Watch your mouth, Logan" she said, with a hint of laughter.  
  
"Jean."  
  
"Logan."  
  
A companionable silence followed, until Logan spoke gruffly. "Everything okay?"  
  
"Oh - yes, the jet won't be able to fly for a little while, but I'm sure I'll be able to have it ready by tom-"  
  
"I wasn't talking about the jet. How are *you* doing?", Logan corrected.  
  
"I'm oka-"  
  
"That was some show of power up there."  
  
"Well, it clearly wasn't enough - ", Jean began, gesturing back towards the campsite, where the jet was now being looked over by Ororo.  
  
"Damnit, Jean, you stopped a fucking air torpedo! You saved our lives ... ", Logan broke in. Damn, even after working to fix the jet, she still smelled damn good.   
  
"Air torpedo? I wouldn't exactly call it that, Logan."  
  
Logan wanted his cigar back. He wished he hadn't extinguished it. He turned his head back towards the stars. "Call it what you want."  
  
Jean followed his gaze, looked into the bright stars as well, and chuckled. "Logan the star-gazer. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think? I never knew you were interested in this kind of thing ..."  
  
"I haven't seen stars this bright for a long time", he replied, a hint of rare sensitivity in his voice. He looked back at Jean. Even in the dark, she seemed to glow. She always had, from the start, he knew there was something different about her the moment he had jumped out of that medlab table and flexed his claws dangerously close to her neck, while grabbing her in a choking hold. //I wonder if she remembers that incident//.  
  
Jean smiled at him, and moved closer to him, and put her hand on his arm. Logan felt his heart beat faster, and felt a chill run down his spine from her touch. "So how are *you* holding up?", she asked.  
  
Logan felt himself harden up, even though there had barely been any contact at all, but Jean didn't notice. //Damn this ... I need a cold shower ... //. "Same as usual. Just fighting desire."  
  
Jean glanced at him strangely, until a look of comprehension swept through her face. //Desire? He doesn't mean ...//  
  
The stars were smiling down on him, and Logan *knew* it was now or never. //Especially now that Scooter ain't here to mess things up//. "I never knew telepathic people ever got confused."  
  
Jean laughed. "I get confused about feelings a lot Logan, just knowing what they are doesn't solve all my problems."  
  
"Then show me."  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"Show me your feelings, if you're confused."  
  
"How ... what do you - "  
  
But Logan had already made his move, and there was no backing down. He moved across the little space between them, and strangely enough, Jean stepped into his embrace, and they locked lips, with Jean's fingers laced up Logan's neck, noting his tangled but soft hair, and Logan's hands going up her shirt, stroking her soft skin. His tongue caressed the roof of her mouth, and she let a soft moan, but pulled away from him, guilt written all over her face.  
  
"I-I- I ... I love him - ", she stuttered, shame filling her insides, threatening to suffocate her with it's intensity - but what did she REALLY want? Had she moved in to his embrace, as if she *wanted* to?   
  
"Scooter boy? Y-"  
  
"Girls flirt with the bad guys, Logan. Then they ... take home the good guys ... and they marry them."  
  
" ... I can be the good guy", Logan muttered, smirking.  
  
"Logan, you're like a wild animal that can't be tam-"  
  
But Logan, once more, had pulled her back into his arms, and to her own surprise, she felt herself latching back on to him, she could feel him reaching up her top and stroking her back, and though she protested mentally, she could feel herself shaking with anticipation.  
  
"L-Logan, there are people watching!"  
  
"It's dark, they won't see us", he said before he pressed his mouth on to hers, he could feel her reaching back into him, both physically and mentally, and they continued in this manner for a few minutes, testing each other, pausing only to breathe, the stars shining down on them and casting shadows of the two on the ground. Even with his superior healing ability, Logan felt his heartbeat increasing dramatically, and his his lower areas rapidly warming up, even in the crisp cold air. Jean reached into him, feeling his warmth and passion, and groped with her tongue to find the answer to the subconcious wanting she'd had for the past while. Logan could feel her mind going into his mind, and mixing into one whole, until Logan reached up to undo her bra, and at that point, Jean seemed to come to her senses, her eyes opening wide. She pushed him away, and backed off, pulling her shirt down, and covering her mouth with her hands.   
  
"Don't make me do this."   
  
"Do what?"  
  
"This." Her presence in Logan's mind slipped away, just as Jean's eyes slipped from Logan's face, once again looking ashamed and terrified. She looked once more into his eyes, her eyes reflecting into herself, showing guilt and horror. She sniffled, looked around fearfully, and walked briskly back towards the campground where the others were now settling to go to bed, trying to smooth and flatten out her hair and clothing as she walked.  
  
"Just an innocent kiss." //Innocent? At least he didn't get anywhere but my mouth ... // But Jean couldn't repress her feelings of guilt. What did this mean? Why had she LET him continue for so long, and why had she encouraged him? Was it that she had longed him for a long time - and yes, she HAD wondered what it would have been ... like ... - and wanted a taste of desire, just to know what it would have been like? Jean walked past the campfire, her mind racing.  
  
Logan watched her retreat, and slowly began to follow her back to the campgrounds, the fire seeming to grow brighter and cast more light around him as he walked closer. He looked back at the stars, and could see the stars, no longer shining bright, but beginning to fade back into the black forbidding sky. //A taste of the forbidden apple in the garden of Eden ...//, Logan considered as he walked closer and closer to the others. As he walked past Jean's tent, past the fire, and felt a rush of warmth, he couldn't help but look back into the sky, to find that he could no longer see the stars. It was like someone had pulled the switch, and nearly every single star had been extinguished.  
  
He looked back at Jean's tent, then started to unzip the doorway to his own tent. Before climbing in, he glanced one last time at the sky. //Well, not all of them have been extinguished//. One star remained, shining brightly just like it had when he caught had up to desire, and kissed it with passion and longing. Logan sighed, closed his eyes, and tiredly sank into his tent.  
  
As he zipped up the tent door back up and climbed into his sleeping bag, the remaining star suddenly flashed red, extended it's landing gear, and headed for the airport.  
  
So much for that last glimmer of hope. 


End file.
